A vehicle lies embedded in the shattered Anti Imperialist Tribune building, after it was flung there by the force of Hurricane Irma, just a few metres from the United States Embassy building. Photo: Ramon Espinosa, AP

An fire and rescue vehicle stops under the arches of the Eastbound span of the Beach Boulevard bridge that connects the beaches to the mainland of Jacksonville, Florida. Photo: Bob Self/The Florida Times-Union via AP

People move through flooded streets in Havana after the passage of Hurricane Irma, in Cuba. The powerful storm ripped roofs off houses, collapsed buildings and flooded hundreds of miles of coastline after cutting a trail of destruction across the Caribbean. Cuban officials warned residents to watch for even more flooding over the next few days. (hoto/Ramon Espinosa, AP

The surf floods a walkway leading to the beach as Hurricane Irma passes through Naples, FOrida. Photo: David Goldman, AP

People tend to a car that flipped over on Cape Coral Parkway during Hurricane Irma, in Cape Coral, Florida. Photo: Gerald Herbert, AP

As a meteorologist, there are things you learn in textbooks that you may never see in person. You know they happen theoretically, but the chances of seeing the most extraordinary weather phenomena are slim to none.

This is one of those things — a hurricane strong enough to change the shape of an ocean.

Twitter user @Kaydi_K shared a video Saturday afternoon in the US that quickly went viral. I knew right away that even though it seemed impossible, it was absolutely legit.

"I am in disbelief right now…" she wrote. "This is Long Island, Bahamas and the ocean water is missing!!!"

Basically, Hurricane Irma is so strong and its pressure is so low, it's sucking water from its surroundings into the core of the storm. It happened in the Bahamas on Friday and Saturday, and now it's happening on the Gulf Coast of Florida on Sunday.

On Saturday, the wind on Long Island in the Bahamas was blowing from southeast to northwest. So on the northwest side of the island, water was getting pushed away from the shoreline.

It also may have been experiencing the effects of what I call the hurricane "bulge." In the center of the storm, where there is extreme low pressure, water is drawn upward. Low pressure is basically a sucking mechanism — it sucks the air into it, and when it's really low, it can change the shape of the surface of the ocean. As the storm draws water toward the centre, it gets pulled away from the surroundings.

In any case, this isn't the sign of a tsunami. The water returned to Long Island on Saturday. On the Florida Gulf Coast, it will be back after the centre of the storm passes north of the location.